Daytrip to Milan from Lake Como?
 

I was originally planning on spending two nights in Milan at end of trip (flying out of MXP) in order to have a full day in Milan. However, the hotel prices in Milan are so high and we are two adults and two teens so would need two rooms (can't seem to find Milan hotels with quads). Since I have found an apt. in Bellagio that is VERY reasonable I'm considering spending an extra night there and doing Milan as a daytrip from there instead. We mostly are interested in seeing the Duomo, Last Supper and walk through the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele. Is this doable? Pros/Cons? We will have a car but would it be better to do by train?

If it matters we will be there in early July.

Very doable, but depending on how much time you're spending in Bellagio you may have trouble tearing yourselves away from the lake.

Much, much easier by train. Ferry to Varenna, train to Milano Centrale and metro to either the Duomo station or the Cadorna station (different lines from Centrale) depending on when your Last Supper reservation is. Cadorna is close to both the Last Supper and the Castello. You can easily walk between the Cadorna and Duomo stations, but if your time is really short you can take yet a third ride on the metro. You should carry a good street map of Milan, and here's a metro map:

http://goitaly.about.com/od/milanita...tation-map.htm

If you train from Varenna, you'll need to buy your train tickets before you walk up to the station. (There is no manned ticket window or ticket machine at the station.) Here's a link to the website of the tabacconist in Varenna listed on the Trenitalia website as a ticket vendor.

http://www.albarilott.com/eng/index.html

This shop is not located on the way from the ferry dock to the train station, so give yourselves time for the detour or buy your tickets on the day you explore Varenna (recommended). Trenitalia says the shop is closed on Mondays.

Enjoy!

I forgot to add... Make sure you know when the last ferry departs from Varenna to Bellagio on the day of the week of your excursion and make sure you're back in Varenna well before that time. The ferry website has the winter schedule posted now, but you can check back in March/April. When you're at the lake, check the POSTED ferry schedule for any last-minute changes.

http://www.navigazionelaghi.it/eng/com/nlc_ora.html

When you search train schedules, use "Varenna-Esino" and "Milano Centrale."

http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html

Reservations are required for The Last Supper. They only take bookings about two months in advance.
http://www.vivaticket.it/evento.php?...nacoloVinciano

The Last Supper sell quickly during high season.

Jean - thank you for your detailed info. Very helpful. Using the ferry/train how much time do you think it would take to get from Bellagio to the center of Milan?

or take a boat to Como and right opposite the boat dock catch the FNM train line that goes right to Cordona

It is doable but you do need to plan in advance.
#1) You want to have reservation for the last supper.
#2) Since you are staying in Bellagio, your bottleneck is transportation out of Bellagio. The boats start their service around 8:00am.
Bellagio to Varenna is a 15 minute boat ride. Trains thru Varenna run every two hours, altho' maybe the trains are hourly at that time of day.

Ooops big fingered the keyboard.

Boats from Bellagio to Como take one hour or two hours. Fast service (Hydro foil) takes one hour and is more expensive. Normal service takes two hours.

Alternatively, there is bus service Bellagio to Como. I don't know their website.

Como has two stations. From the lake-front, the station is part of the Milan area commuter sytem (ATM). This is the train to Cadorna that Palenque mentions. The other station will connect to Milan's central station (Centrale). It is a half mile to full mile to get to this second train staion.

I think to Milan via Vareena is probbaly simplest if you can get a good connection in Varenna.

I agree with Palenque---ferry to Como not Varenna for an easier connection. The walk up to the station from the lake in Varenna is a killer and the trains are not too frequent.

Thanks again. So I checked out the ferry schedules and prices and I have to ask - why would ferry/train be easier than driving?? Yahoo Maps says drive from Bellagio to Milano Centrale is 47 miles and 1 hr. 36 minutes. If there is a place to park just outside of the city near a metro station that seems simpler, we are on our own timetable and it is ALOT cheaper - priced out train/ferry through Como and with four of us it is 95 euros (ferry through Varenna is quite a bit cheaper).

Now I had another idea - before heading to Bellagio we will be in Bologna for 5 days. Original plan was to head straight to Bellagio but maybe we should do our stop in Milan that day?? My only concern would be leaving the car with all of our luggage parked somewhere.... Thoughts??

I wouldn't drive into Milan if you paid me. Stopping in Milan on the way from Bologna to Bellagio presents the same parking problem (with the added twist of luggage in the car) plus the likelihood of fewer hours in Milan and the possibility of having to get to Bellagio in the dark. That would be three strikes for me.

Coming from Bellagio, you could look for parking at one of the stations on the Milano branch of the LeNord line (not Trenitalia) from Como to Milano Cadorna. For example, it's 20-30 minutes from Saronno to the Cadorna station, depending on the train, and trains are very frequent. But I doubt parking at Saronno station is as easy as it sounds, even though this is one of the main connecting stations for LeNord. The satellite view on maps.google shows parking spaces for about 20 cars immediately adjacent to the station, but what will you do if you get there and there's no available parking?

http://www.lenord.it/en/index.php

http://www.lenord.it/en/orari_e_news/ramo_milano.php [map of Milano branch]

You want no part of driving in Milan, nor do you want to drive from Bellagio to Como. Why do you have a car in Bellagio? I would drop it in Como--we just did that in Oct. The taxi up to Bellagio was not fun even with a pro.

I was also thinking you should ditch the car before Bellagio. You really don't need it for a few days on the lake, so you're paying daily rent on a parked car. Or did you have some plan that requires it?

And what time is your flight out of Malpensa?

Driving from Bellagio to Como will take you about an hour....

We had a car in Bellagio. As others have said, it is not necessary. For us however, we drove to MXP for our flight home from Bellagio, about two hours. I always try to leave for home on a Sunday [less trafic]. We did take the train from Varenna for a full day in Milan and had no trouble that route. Perhaps going to Como is easier. Our one night out of Bellagio for dinner made a very interesting ride back, in the dark. So, if you end up driving to Bellagio, my strong suggestion is, only go in daylight hours. Richard

We took the high speed ferry from Bellagio to COmo and then took the train to Milan, taxi to "The Last Supper."

Iris1745: Your night-driving comment brought back our nightmare, many years ago before the EU. We got lost on our way back from an out-of-town dinner in Austria and somehow ended up across the border in Germany...our passports were in our hotel room in Austria and we had a heck of a time getting the authorities to let us back over the border!

Thanks all - a lot to think about.

Realize we don't need a car in Bellagio but we need it for the rest of our trip. Hubby has driven a few times in Europe incl. driving in the city centers of Rome, Munich and Prague (not something I would do, but he enjoys the challenge I guess). Also, I checked when the sunsets there in early July and won't set until about 9:15pm, which I think give us plenty of time for daylight (there is a great website called timeanddate.com where you can get this info.). Main problem still remains parking.

iris1745 - do you remember how long it took you to get from Bellagio to Milan via Varenna? This seems like the shortest and cheapest way. 15 min. boat ride and just over 1 hr. train ride?

HappyTrvlr - do you remember how long it took you to get from Bellagio to Milan via Como? 1 hr. high speed ferry and just under 1 hr. train?

Thanks again!

Hi jgg; I don't remember how long it took to get to Milan on the train, but what I do remember, is I found a guide on line that we meet at 10am. We hired her for four hours and she was wonderful. Wish i had her e-mail. My guess is, it took almost an hour and a half.

The train from Varenna Esino to Milano Centrale takes just over one hour.

Here's a sample search for late March. It probably won't be much different in July.

http://tinyurl.com/yg5z6kf

http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html